Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 2006 - Training Track 6-3
This session was so useful (especially for me in my current situation) that I decided to make much more detailed notes. I think that most of his points are of value to any church leadership, not just those who are church planting.
1. The role of the leader
- What the leader does is to lead the people forward into God’s plan
- Not the same as a pastoral or teaching gift
2. The leader decides the location
- Don’t go for an area that is too big or too small
- John Wimber said that most church planters work too hard on too few people
3. Leadership starts to develop vision
- Through how Scripture has spoken to you
- Through prayer
- Out of these will come a vision related to the community you are in
- Believe God for something so great that it would fail were God not in it
4. Cast the vision God has given you
- Vision is a powerful tool in the hands of a leader—it pulls you into the future.
- You should be able to tell your vision to interested people
- A 30 second introduction (for casual conversation)
- 3 minutes over coffee (after church for someone who wants to know more)
- 30 minutes (when you are doing a presentation to a church about what you are doing and why
- If you have a strong, clear vision, people will make sacrificial decisions
5. Another role of leadership is developing a clear plan for the next 12-24 months ahead
- You should plan out the phase between beginning the church plant and moving to having Sunday meetings
- Plan out what you must do, and when
- Plan your strategy for meeting unbelievers and those looking for a church
- What three things must I do if this plan is to succeed
- For me those three things were:
- to cast vision
- to meet people
- to train leaders
6. Recruit a team
- Think roles, not just simply numbers
- You need a fellow leader
- A good worship leader or a good musician (good musicians will attract other good musicians)
- Small group leaders
- Those with evangelistic gifts
- Ask people to join you. Not everyone will, but the more you ask, the more are likely to come.
7. Leadership builds momentum
- Planting a church is a lot of hard work
- You need to have a lot of people through your home
- But there is a problem: 20 people can suck up all your time.
- My solution is to divide my time in half
- Half goes to those people I already have
- Half is for the people I don’t have (even setting aside evenings months ahead)
- Lots of events to bring people to who are not a part of the church
- e.g. parties, barbecues, events where people don’t have to talk about Jesus
- The main preconceptions that people have are that God is unpredictable at best and Christians are weird
- We have to show them that God is good and we are OK
- Another way of building momentum is to celebrate victories
- e.g. If your cell multiplies, have a party!
- Have fun!
- Care for significant leaders.
- Even if there are only a few, you are setting a model for caring and that is how they will care for people.
- It sets a culture of care
8. Avoid becoming sidetracked
- Don’t do too many things at once
- Ultimately you might want to be a Tesco Superstore, but right now you are just a bakery
- To start with we just ran small groups and Sunday celebrations, but we have just added a deli which is Alpha
- Avoid becoming bored—sometimes you have to do the mundane, administrative things
- Persistence wins—don’t be too distracted
- You have to say “no” to some things, for example requests from other church leaders
- You have to say “no” to some people who want to church plant with you, but would divert your resources
- You have to say “no” to some believers who have their own ideas about how the church should be
9. Leadership has to overcome problems
- You have to relish problems and see them as an opportunity, and not be bowed down by them
- E.g. when someone was shot at the location where they normally meet
- Finances: you have to believe God for money
- There is a connection between the amount you personally give and the amount you raise for your church
- You have to believe God for a venue
- You have to get people to move in order to join you
10. If you are a leader you must make sure that you and your family have support
- You need good oversight
- You need access to others involved in church planting
- You need a strong marriage (or single people need good friends)
- Your children need good friends and spiritual support
- The leader makes sure that his own family is encouraged spiritually
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